Barrel Weights

[DavidJ]

I've been shooting a Blaser F3 Pro that I picked up second hand for about 6 months now. It came complete with barrel weights which weren't fitted and as I don't fiddle I've never tried them. The only adjustment I made was to move the stock weight slightly back to center the balance up.

My question really is, what will the handling change to the gun be by adding weight at the fore end? I understand it could make it front end heavy but this could be counteracted by moving the stock weights back resulting in just a heavier gun. I'm not sure at my level of shooting that I would notice the difference so why would a top shot want to add weight?

David

 

[balltrap]

Ideally, the gun should balance on the hinge pin, if you add weight to the barrels it will slow your swing down but make it more pointable what are you shooting ?-

 

[DavidJ]

I moved the stock weight back to balance it on/just behind the hinge pin. I was also told that a gun that was heavier at the rear would be more pointable!

 

[MJJ]

As long as it feels right in the hands, it can balance wherever it likes.

 

[bisondan]

It's a personal thing and also one of the best parts of the F3 'system' you can have it exactly how you want it.

You can take all the weights out from the stock and not have any on the barrel, or you can have them all in which makes the gun nearly ten pounds.  

Personally I've got both weights in my stock about half way up the rod and then have the medium barrel weights as far forward as they will go.

Go careful with the screws as they are pretty soft, don't over-tight and check them when you've finished shooting because if they come loose then getting the forend off can be a pain.

 

[ips]

from my experience all guns I have ever had or handled balance on the hinge pin BUT its how the weight is distributed that makes a gun handle well. I like a gun with all the weight in the middle, between the hands. This Imo makes a gun "steady" put weight on the end of the barrell and the stock and for me the gun is not my friend. But its all personal preference.

 

[DavidJ]

But if I was to put some weight on the front (between my hands) and adjust the stock weight so as not to change the overall balance will the gun point as it did before? will it only be the swing that will feels different? 

I understand it's a personal thing and I can on fast targets end up slashing so would a gun that's slower to swing due to the extra bit of weight help or would it have the opposite effect and cause me to swing harder?

The other thing is how many clays do you need to fully evaluate the change?

 

[westley]

But if I was to put some weight on the front (between my hands) and adjust the stock weight so as not to change the overall balance will the gun point as it did before? will it only be the swing that will feels different? 

I understand it's a personal thing and I can on fast targets end up slashing so would a gun that's slower to swing due to the extra bit of weight help or would it have the opposite effect and cause me to swing harder?

The other thing is how many clays do you need to fully evaluate the change?

Fit the weights, try the gun, move adjustments as required, try gun. Once it feels right to YOU, lock up the adjustments and leave it alone.  Only YOU will know when it is right for your style of shooting. Alternatively, book a lesson and take the leggo kit with you, so the Instructor can join in the fun !

 

[Will Hewland]

I have shot Blaser a lot (EJC loaned me two guns) now am fixed with one that I bought. 

I am convinced that 90% of the handling characteristic that we all value / notice is in the barrel weight. Not just weight alone but weight distribution. For this reason, I have gone Blaser over my Perazzi which I think was always a touch barrel heavy. 

I shoot a Blaser made in 2015 which has a slightly lighter barrel than the latest guns. But guess what, I have ended up removing all barrel weights. The stock weights have moved forward so the balance is near the pin, but this is a gun at about 8.4 lbs with light barrels.

I think if you need barrel weight perfection, then you may be swinging the gun too much. After 11 years, I now think that knowing where to point the gun as you fire is critical and you don't want a heavy gun to take you there. Just my opinion of course..

 

[DavidJ]

I've shot mine for six months now, as it came. If the weights had been fitted then I'd probably be shooting with them now. I was just unsure what characteristics of the gun would change if they were fitted and why someone might want to add them. I've far simpler things to work on before barrel weight perfection... A couple of bad habits that keep creeping back in and trying to re-train my brain on 100 shots a month is hard.

 

[Hamster]

1443 - 1478 is prob where it's at  , agree with Will and Westley too of course, it is at the end of the day a personal thing and despite the likes of me repeatedly saying lighter barrels tend to suit the majority better, the fact remains that some very tidy scores are spun out with old spec K80's as well as other nose heavy guns by shooters who have gotten used to the handling and quirks, knowing where to place the barrels prior to saying Pull is key.

I personally dislike nose heavy guns not just because of the handling but the sheer fact that towards the final pair or two you really begin to notice you're having to hold the gun off the front metal guard, my own guns tend to be very very slightly butt biased to prevent that very negative feeling creeping in as I finish a stand or indeed as the round progresses. FWIW I found that far from keeping the swing going more easily, heavier barrels tended to cause me to shoot behind both crossers and certainly high quartering birds, they seemed to "need" to be driven and forced to "finish" the shot more than lighter barrels do. 

 

[westley]

I have shot Blaser a lot (EJC loaned me two guns) now am fixed with one that I bought. 

I am convinced that 90% of the handling characteristic that we all value / notice is in the barrel weight. Not just weight alone but weight distribution. For this reason, I have gone Blaser over my Perazzi which I think was always a touch barrel heavy. I shoot a Blaser made in 2015 which has a slightly lighter barrel than the latest guns. But guess what, I have ended up removing all barrel weights. The stock weights have moved forward so the balance is near the pin,

but this is a gun at about 8.25 lbs with light barrels.

I think if you need barrel weight perfection, then you may be swinging the gun too much. After 11

years, I now think that knowing where to point the gun as you fire is critical and you don't want a heavy gun to take you there. Just my opinion of course..

Careful now Will, at 8.25lbs. that is getting dangerously close to ending up in that skip of yours  !    :angel:

 

[Will Hewland]

Careful now Will, at 8.25lbs. that is getting dangerously close to ending up in that skip of yours  !    :angel:

Ha ha. I actually hadn't weighed it.. just did so and it's just shy of 8.5lbs..

 

[westley]

Ha ha. I actually hadn't weighed it.. just did so and it's just shy of 8.5lbs..

It's going the right way then  ?

Just as an aside, the balance of a gun is more critical than some people give account to. I recently tested the F16, having already tried and dismissed the F3, and,  Philistine that I am, could not wait to give that one back too !    I  had,  by chance, the opportunity to try the Browning 725 with the adjustable comb and that gun felt to me to be around  7 1/2lbs. Anyway, I bought it. When I weighed that it was 8lbs 4ozs. I believe that the adjustable comb ironwork is balancing the gun perfectly. (I left the allen key for the comb in the gunshop !)

 

[schmokinn]

My MXS about 2OZ of lead in stock balances on pin.

Whole gun weighs 4.1kg.

Barrels weigh 1564g is that heavy?

Anybody else have an MXS and can weigh there barrels?

 

[CharlesP]

Westley, you state: "the balance of a gun is more critical than some people give account to"

And you have rejected the Blasers. Did you attempt to use the balancing system that is a major selling point of these guns? I ask because the movement of the internal threaded stock weights in my F3 makes a considerable difference to the handling of the gun, and a trial with those weights set in a position that makes the gun incompatible with your preferences is of course going to feel wrong.

In my view it's better to have a properly engineered system of weighting - two hefty cylindrical weights with locking screws and anti-rattle rings moving along a threaded shaft - than stuffing roofing lead and blu-tak down the stock bolt orifice...

 

[squimp]

I don't like heavy guns and 8lb 4oz is about my upper limit -  so I find barrel weight and overall handling to be really important.

I much prefer neutral handling and cannot get on with guns that are noticeably barrel or stock heavy.

It seems that some guns 'have it' and others just don't. I once ordered a factory Perazzi and when it arrived it handled like a piece of drainpipe. I now have a John Jeffries gun and even though it has light barrels and was built to a specific weight, it still handles well and balances as was intended.

The latest Blaser system (now copied by Krieghoff I think) seems like a very sensible way forward. 

Just as an aside, I once went to a training day with a famous sporting shooter and he spent the first half hour checking gun fit and handling for the assembled crew. Part of the drill with barrel heavy guns involved forcing chopped up cartridges down the stock bolt hole.........   

 

[CharlesP]

I am only recently - and belatedly - converted to heavier guns. For many a year I've been game or pigeon shooting, and like thousands of my generation I have been perfectly happy with the "round about six and a half pounds" standard to which the English gun trade adhered. Rapid handling was the paramount requirement although driven pheasants rarely seemed to stretch this aspect.

But now it's clays and I realised that 100 bird Sporting was a bit of a struggle with my Beretta 686S, that 24 grams was doable but 28 was a struggle, and my ageing frame was finding the gun a bit whippy when I needed steadiness. A season with a semi-auto was fun, but I really couldn't put up with the ejected empties bouncing off the cage and smiting me on the side of the face.

So I went heavy. Yes it's a pain hauling the thing around, but you can put it down while others are shooting. Yes it swings slower, but it swings steadier. And most important there is very very little perceived recoil from my 8 1/2 pound gun.

 

[FreeShot]

from my experience all guns I have ever had or handled balance on the hinge pin BUT its how the weight is distributed that makes a gun handle well. I like a gun with all the weight in the middle, between the hands. This Imo makes a gun "steady" put weight on the end of the barrell and the stock and for me the gun is not my friend. But its all personal preference.

By all means - try to handle a fine heavy  British double rifle like WR, H&H, Purdey...all somewhere between 10 and 11 lbs, yet sheer joy to handle.